"I was doing some more serious research for a documentary and OIA writing can be a bit cheeky, so I zoomed it off in the middle [of the research] for a bit of a laugh, not really expecting a response," he said.

Warbrooke made the unusual OIA request on January 30 seeking "any evidence to disprove the theory that Mr John Key is in fact a David Icke-style shape-shifting reptilian alien ushering humanity towards enslavement".

The response came back from Key's chief of staff, Wayne Eagleson, on February 11 neither confirming or denying the theory.

He said he was unable to respond to the request as there was no data to disprove the theory.

The other more serious OIA requests Warbrooke made were to the New Zealand Defence Force, Civil Aviation Society and New Zealand Antarctic Institute for information regarding extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying objects.

Unexplained phenomena was a personal interest, Warbrooke said.

"In terms of what I believe, I don't make the jump from 'I see something in the sky and I don't know what it is' to 'it's obviously this'," he said.

"But there's something happening, whether it's extra-terrestrial or psychological, that's a whole other thing I don't know the answer to I guess."

The shape-shifting request was not really a waste of government time as it would have been dealt with swiftly, Warbrooke said.

"I mean realistically how much time was put into that response?" he asked.

"It's a form letter and then obviously they are not really going to look for anything so it's two seconds for them to go 'no, go away'.

"As silly as the basic idea is, I mean it's done satirically.

"The fact of the matter is I don't agree with his [Key's] politics and with recent polling most New Zealanders don't seem to, including National voters."

David Icke is a former British footballer and broadcaster who descended into ridicule after claiming he was the "Son of the Godhead" and promoting conspiracy theories, which he has since turned into books.